Xbox Live Director Major Nelson’s account hacked

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It’s certainly a nice job, to be the face of Microsoft’s Xbox Live service, but setting yourself up as the big man means you set yourself up as a target. That’s just what Larry Hryb, Director of Programming for Xbox Live, discovered this weekend when his “Major Nelson” Xbox Live account was hacked.

The hack was apparently conducted by the individuals behind website lightzz, who even put up a YouTube video of the hack, along with a Skype name (Roid-Monkey) for individuals interested in having their friends’ accounts hacked targeted. “Roid Monkey” charges $60 to hack an account (down from $100).

Not that Roid-Monkey did much with Major Nelson’s account. In fact, he seemed to limit himself to the usual pedestrian jokes, changing Major Nelson’s name to a capital-lettered admission of homosexuality, and ironically smirking in the location field: “Code of Condust My Ass.”

Of course, it didn’t take long for Major Nelson to get control of his account back. “I have control of the account,” Hryb told Kotaku. “The enforcement team took care of it.”

But how did Roid-Monkey take control of Hryb’s account? Do Xbox Live users need to be concerned about a possible global exploit?

Luckily, no. According to the Director of Policy and Enforcement for Xbox LIVE, Stephen Toulouse, the hack was “very specific” and “very targeted.” You can probably rest easy… even though this is still a bit of egg on the face of Major Nelson. But he’s a good sport. He can take it.